The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE

by peaceful methods to draw Serbia into the orbit of the monarchy. Or it may be it was conceived in a fit of anger with the Magyars, as a means to curb their arrogance. Or was it merely the result of his impatience and unwillingness to rule by a system half a century old put into force and maintained by his Imperial uncle? To these questions it is now difficult to give an answer.

In every country with more or less pronounced despotic rule the accession of a new monarch is always preceded by a halo of hopes and expectations or a cloud of fears and anxieties. Every Hapsburg firmly believes in a special “ mission ”’ of his own. Whatever may be its- foundation the idea of the Trialism was a fact of AustroHungarian political psychology, provoking hopes and fears, calling into play Court intrigues and counter plots. ‘Two facts were firmly established. The late Archduke Ferdinand was not liked by his royal cousins and never felt any pleasure in their company. He avoided as much as possible the surroundings of the Viennese Court, where he did not feel at home, and dwelt with much affection in the narrow circle of his morganatic family, for which the love of a husband and father was a compensation for the malicious pricks and constant slights of the Hapsburg house and their courtiers.

How much he disliked them is best proved by his last will and the depositions concerning his funeral rites. He forbade their presence, and

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